Missouri Easements and Eminent Domain: Prescriptive Rights and Takings

In Missouri, a prescriptive easement requires use of another's land that has been continuous, uninterrupted, visible and adverse for ten years, and the person claiming it must prove each element by clear and convincing evidence. That ten-year rule comes from the courts (Whittom v. Alexander-Richardson Partnership, Mo. banc 1993), not from a statute written for easements.

On the eminent domain side, a 2006 law bars any condemning authority from taking private property "for solely economic development purposes" (RSMo 523.271), although eliminating blighted, substandard or unsanitary conditions does not count as economic development under that section. The Missouri Constitution separately forbids taking private property for private use, with or without compensation, unless the owner consents, except for private ways of necessity and for drains and ditches across others' land for agricultural and sanitary purposes (Mo. Const. art. I, § 28).

This page covers both halves of Missouri law: easements between private landowners first, then the government's power to take private property. For other states, see our guide to easement laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-19. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Missouri state law on private easements (prescriptive, implied, necessity and statutory private roads, maintenance and termination) and on condemnation of private property under the Missouri Constitution and chapter 523 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. It does not cover adverse possession of title (see Missouri squatters' rights and adverse possession), homeowners' association covenants, zoning, regulatory takings, condemnation by the federal government, or city and county ordinances.

How Long Does a Prescriptive Easement Take in Missouri?

Ten years. The Supreme Court of Missouri stated the rule in Whittom v. Alexander-Richardson Partnership (1993):

"To establish a prescriptive easement, it is necessary to show use that has been continuous, uninterrupted, visible and adverse for a period of ten years."

The same opinion adds that "to be adverse the use does not need to be under a belief or claim of right that is legally justified." The use also need not be exclusive. As quoted by the Court of Appeals in Blue Pool Farms, LLC v. Basler (2007), Whittom explains that "the claimant of an easement claims only the right to make certain use of the land and does not claim to possess the whole title and exclude the owner from it for all purposes."

The ten-year period is a court-made rule. It has the same length as RSMo 516.010, which bars an action "for the recovery of any lands" unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was seized or possessed of the land "within ten years before the commencement of such action," but that section speaks of recovering land and does not mention easements. Missouri's statutes of limitation do not extend to lands belonging to the state or appropriated to a public, pious or charitable use (RSMo 516.090).

Burden of proof and the presumption of adversity

The Missouri Court of Appeals summarized the burden in Hirsch v. Ebinger (2011): plaintiffs "bear the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence the required elements for a prescriptive easement," and "Missouri law disfavors the creation of prescriptive easements."

The same opinion describes a presumption that shifts that burden on one element:

"If the use has been open, continuous, visible and uninterrupted for longer than ten years, then a presumption arises that the use was adverse and the burden shifts to the landowner to show that the use was permissive."

The presumption is not the end of the case. Quoting an earlier decision, Hirsch adds: "Upon a showing of evidence of permissive use, the presumption of adversity disappears." Evidence that the landowner permitted the use therefore removes the presumption.

Adverse possession of title, where someone claims ownership of the land itself rather than a right to use it, also turns on a ten-year period under RSMo 516.010. That separate doctrine is covered on our page on Missouri squatters' rights and adverse possession.

Roads that become public through use

A different rule applies to the public. Under RSMo 228.190, roads established by county commission order and used as public highways for ten years or more are legally established public roads, and so are roads "used as such by the public for ten years continuously, and upon which there shall have been expended public money or labor for such period." The same section treats five years of continuous nonuse by the public as an abandonment and vacation of a public road.

Landlocked Property in Missouri: Easements by Necessity and Private Roads

Missouri gives a landlocked owner two routes: a common-law easement by necessity and a statutory private road of strict necessity. The constitution makes room for the second by excepting "private ways of necessity" from its ban on taking property for private use (Mo. Const. art. I, § 28).

The common-law easement by necessity

In Howell v. Rickard (2009), the Missouri Court of Appeals stated that a common-law easement by necessity arises "whenever land has been sold which is inaccessible except by passing over the land of the grantor." To obtain one, the court explained, the petitioner must show "prior unity of title, and subsequent deprivation of access to a public roadway."

The statutory private road of strict necessity

RSMo 228.342 lets a landowner petition for a private road across a neighbor's land:

"A private road may be established or widened in favor of any owner or owners of real property for which there is no access, or insufficiently wide access, from such property to a public road if the private road sought to be established or widened is a way of strict necessity. As used in this section, the term 'strict necessity' shall include the necessity to establish or widen a private road in order to utilize the property for the uses permitted by law."

Key features of the procedure:

• Width. The road as established or widened "shall not exceed forty feet in width" (RSMo 228.345).
• Damages. Commissioners report an assessment of damages. Within ten days after notification of the report, either party may file exceptions; if none are filed, the court enters judgment establishing or widening the road and assessing the damages in the report "to be paid by the plaintiffs to the defendants" (RSMo 228.358). The ten-day window is short.
• Nature of the right. The road "shall be a permanent easement appurtenant to the plaintiffs' real property" (RSMo 228.358).
• Use of the road. Unless exceptions were filed and the petitioners have given an appeal bond the court deems sufficient, they may not use the road until the judgment is final, any appeals are exhausted and they have satisfied the damage award. If they do not satisfy the award within 60 days after the judgment becomes final and appeals are exhausted, the proceedings "shall be deemed abandoned" (RSMo 228.362).
• Seven-year bar. If the petition is deemed abandoned, or voluntarily dismissed after the commissioners' report is filed, the petitioners and later owners of their land are barred for seven years from filing another private-road petition over the same land (RSMo 228.362).

Easements implied from prior use

Missouri also recognizes easements implied from a visible arrangement that a former common owner made before dividing the land. In Hillside Development Co. v. Fields (1996), the Missouri Court of Appeals set out a four-factor test:

1. "There must have been a unity of common ownership followed by a separation of title of the subject property into dominant and servient estates;"
2. "The purported easement must have been constructed, altered or artificially arranged by the common owner so as to constitute an open, obvious and visible benefit or advantage to the claimant's property and a burden to the servient portion of the premises;"
3. "The purported easement must have been used long enough before the separation of title and under such circumstances so as to show that the alteration or artificial arrangement was intended to be permanent; and"
4. "The purported easement must be reasonably necessary for the [full] beneficial use and enjoyment of the dominant estate."

The fourth factor asks for reasonable necessity, a lower bar than the "strict necessity" that RSMo 228.342 requires for a statutory private road.

Who Maintains a Shared Private Road or Driveway in Missouri?

RSMo 228.369 addresses roads shared by more than one homeowner:

"For any private road subject to the use of more than one homeowner, in the absence of a prior order or written agreement for the maintenance of the private road ... one or more of the owners may petition the circuit court for an order establishing a plan of maintenance."

The cost of the plan "shall be apportioned among the owners of residences abutting the private road and holders of easements to use the private road, with the cost apportioned commensurate with the use and benefit to residences benefitted by the access" (RSMo 228.369.2). For this purpose, a "private road" includes any private road established under chapter 228 "or any easement of access, regardless of how created," that provides motor-vehicle ingress and egress from residences to a public road (RSMo 228.341). The procedure does not apply to roads in a recorded plat tied to an owners' association indenture or declaration, to government-owned roads, or to property of a railroad regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration (RSMo 228.341).

In a private-road case, the court's order designates who must build, maintain and repair the road, and it may not make the defendants share those costs if they receive no rights to use the road or waive the rights they receive (RSMo 228.352).

Can a neighbor block or gate an easement?

The owner of land burdened by an easement "may control and use his property in any way that does not substantially interfere with the reasonable use of the easement by the easement holder," and a fence can be unlawful if it makes the easement "less useful or less convenient" even without closing it off (Stoesz v. Wright, Mo. App. E.D. 2018). Gates cut the other way too: where an ingress-and-egress easement said nothing about gates, the Court of Appeals held that a gate the easement holders put across it was outside the scope of the easement and should have been enjoined (Bedard v. Scherrer, Mo. App. W.D. 2006).

Express Easements, Recording and Special Easements

For agreements about land, Missouri's statute of frauds bars an action on "any contract made for the sale of lands, tenements, hereditaments, or an interest in or concerning them" unless the agreement, or a memorandum of it, is in writing and signed by the party to be charged (RSMo 432.010).

Recording matters. A written instrument certified and recorded under Missouri law, from the time it is filed with the recorder, imparts "notice to all persons of the contents thereof," and later purchasers and mortgagees are deemed to buy with notice (RSMo 442.390). Our page on Missouri property records explains how to look up recorded documents for a Missouri property.

Some kinds of easements have their own rules:

• Solar easements. "The right to utilize solar energy is a property right but eminent domain may not be used to obtain such property right." Easements for a solar energy device must be created in writing, and "easements for solar light shall be considered a negative easement and cannot be acquired by prescription but must be negotiated expressly" (RSMo 442.012).
• Conservation interests. A not-for-profit organization formed to conserve open spaces may acquire interests in land or water rights for those purposes "in the same manner, other than by eminent domain," as public bodies may (RSMo 67.890).
• Conservation easements. Under Missouri's Private Landowner Protection Act, a conservation easement may be created, recorded, released or terminated "in the same manner as other easements," creates no rights or duties until the holder accepts it and the acceptance is recorded, and is unlimited in duration unless the instrument creating it provides otherwise (RSMo 442.014).

How Does an Easement End in Missouri?

Abandonment. The person claiming that an easement was abandoned carries the burden: "abandonment must be proved by clear and convincing evidence," and "mere nonuser of an easement acquired by grant, however long continued, does not of itself constitute abandonment" (Creech v. Noyes, Mo. App. 2002, as quoted in Soderholm v. Nauman, Mo. App. W.D. 2013). Soderholm held that "the rule is the same as to prescriptive easements," so an intent to abandon must be shown for those as well.

Court vacation of an abandoned post-2006 easement. Under RSMo 527.188, the owner of land burdened by an easement created after December 31, 2006, and "abandoned in whole for a period in excess of ten years," may petition a court to vacate it. The owner pays "monetary consideration equal to the original consideration obtained by the property owner in exchange for the easement." The holder must be a party and may keep the easement by showing that it "in good faith, plans to make future use of the easement." Easements created on or before December 31, 2006, fall outside this section, and the right to seek vacation can be waived in the original instrument of conveyance or in a later signed writing by the owner of record or a successor in title (RSMo 527.188).

Involuntary easements returned for lack of financing. RSMo 523.025 requires a corporation that took an involuntary easement and does not obtain the financial commitments needed to build the project in Missouri within seven years after the easement is recorded to return possession to the fee simple title holder within 60 days and record the dissolution. No reimbursement of the payment made to the title holder is due.

Public roads. Five years of continuous nonuse by the public is deemed an abandonment and vacation of a public road (RSMo 228.190).

Eminent Domain in Missouri

Eminent domain is the government's power to take private property for public use. For how other states handle it, and for federal condemnation, see our guide to eminent domain laws by state.

The Missouri Constitution's takings clause covers damage as well as takings and requires payment before the owner is disturbed:

"That private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation. Such compensation shall be ascertained by a jury or board of commissioners of not less than three freeholders, in such manner as may be provided by law; and until the same shall be paid to the owner, or into court for the owner, the property shall not be disturbed or the proprietary rights of the owner therein divested." (Mo. Const. art. I, § 26)

Section 28 of the same article adds that "when an attempt is made to take private property for a use alleged to be public, the question whether the contemplated use be public shall be judicially determined without regard to any legislative declaration that the use is public."

Can Missouri Take Property for a Private Developer?

Not for economic development alone. House Bill 1944 (2006) enacted RSMo 523.271:

"No condemning authority shall acquire private property through the process of eminent domain for solely economic development purposes."

The statute defines "economic development" as a use that "would provide an increase in the tax base, tax revenues, employment, and general economic health," and it expressly excludes "the elimination of blighted, substandard, or unsanitary conditions, or conditions rendering the property or its surrounding area a conservation area as defined in section 99.805." Blight-based takings therefore remain possible, with limits written into the same 2006 law:

• "No condemning authority shall declare farmland blighted for the purposes of exercising eminent domain" (RSMo 523.286).
• For redevelopment condemnations under article VI, section 21 of the constitution, a legislative determination that an area is blighted, substandard or unsanitary "shall not be arbitrary or capricious or induced by fraud, collusion, or bad faith and shall be supported by substantial evidence" (RSMo 523.261).
• The condemning authority must consider each parcel individually, but if it finds a preponderance of the defined redevelopment area blighted, it may condemn any parcel in that area (RSMo 523.274).
• An eminent domain action within a redevelopment area must be commenced within five years of the blight or conservation-area determination, although the legislative body may renew the determination for successive five-year periods (RSMo 523.274).

The Supreme Court of Missouri enforced the economic development bar in State ex rel. Jackson v. Dolan (Mo. banc 2013). It held that "the condemning authority bears the burden of proving that a particular taking serves a public purpose," and it stopped a port authority's condemnation by writ of prohibition because the trial court found no purpose for the taking outside the statute's definition of economic development.

Who may condemn property in Missouri

Under RSMo 523.262, the power of eminent domain is vested only in governmental bodies or agencies whose governing body is elected or appointed by elected officials, and in an urban redevelopment corporation operating under a redevelopment agreement with the municipality executed on or before December 31, 2006. Separately, "a private utility company, public utility, rural electric cooperative, municipally owned utility, pipeline, railroad or common carrier shall have the power of eminent domain as may be granted pursuant to the provisions of other sections of the revised statutes of Missouri" (RSMo 523.262.2).

Since 2022, an electrical corporation (other than a cooperative) may not use chapter 523 to condemn land for a merchant transmission line with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission negotiated rate authority unless the line has a Missouri substation or converter station able to deliver to Missouri customers a share of its capacity at least proportionate to the miles of line in the state. This limit does not apply to applications under section 393.170 filed before August 28, 2022 (RSMo 523.010.8).

What Must Happen Before a Condemnation Case Is Filed

Chapter 523 sets out several steps that come before a condemnation petition:

1. Notice at least 60 days ahead. "At least sixty days before filing of a condemnation petition," the condemning authority must give the owner of record "a written notice concerning the intended acquisition." The notice must identify the interest to be acquired and the purpose, and must state that the owner may seek legal counsel at the owner's expense, make a counteroffer, obtain the owner's own appraisal, have compensation set by commissioners and ultimately a jury, seek help from the ombudsman for property rights, contest the right to condemn, and request vacation of an easement under RSMo 527.188. It is sent by certified or registered mail to the owner of record listed with the city or county assessor. An owner may waive the notice requirements "in a writing executed by the owner" (RSMo 523.250).
2. Alternative location, within 30 days. Within 30 days of receiving that notice, the landowner may propose in writing an alternative location on the same parcel. This option does not apply "to takings of an entire parcel of land" (RSMo 523.265).
3. Written offer at least 30 days ahead. The condemning authority must present a written offer to all owners of record at least 30 days before filing, and the offer "shall be held open for the thirty-day period unless an agreement is reached sooner." At the time of the offer, it must provide "an appraisal or an explanation with supporting financial data" for its valuation (RSMo 523.253).
4. Good-faith negotiations. "Before a court may enter an order of condemnation, the court shall find that the condemning authority engaged in good faith negotiations prior to filing the condemnation petition." If the court does not so find, it must dismiss the petition without prejudice and order the condemning authority to reimburse the owner's "actual reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred with respect to the condemnation proceeding which has been dismissed" (RSMo 523.256).

The statute deems negotiations to be in good faith if the condemning authority properly and timely gave every required notice; offered no less than its state-licensed or state-certified appraisal (or the value basis it gave the owner); gave the owner an opportunity to obtain his or her own appraisal; and, where applicable, considered the owner's alternative location. For agricultural or horticultural land condemned for an electrical transmission line of 345 kilovolts or more, other than by an electrical cooperative, the total compensation package offered must be at least 150% of the condemning authority's appraisal, except for applications under section 393.170 filed before August 28, 2022 (RSMo 523.256). Chapter 523 gives the owner the right to obtain his or her own appraisal. When a condemnation under a redevelopment plan or agreement entered into after December 31, 2006, is abandoned, the owner may recover reasonable "expert expenses" along with attorneys' fees and costs (RSMo 523.259).

The Office of Public Counsel runs an ombudsman for property rights who provides "guidance, which shall not constitute legal advice," to people seeking information about the condemnation process (RSMo 523.277).

How a Missouri Condemnation Case Works

Once the petition is filed, the summons must give the owner "at least ten days' notice of the time when said petition will be heard" (RSMo 523.030). The owner may contest the right to condemn in the condemnation proceeding itself (RSMo 523.250). Where the dispute is whether an area was properly found blighted for a redevelopment condemnation, the owner may raise it as a defense or in a declaratory judgment action, the circuit court must give the case preference so as to conclude it within 30 days of filing, and either party may take an interlocutory appeal (RSMo 523.261). The court appoints commissioners to assess damages. They must notify all parties named in the petition at least ten days before viewing the property, and must return their report within 45 days after appointment, a period the court may extend to a date certain for good cause (RSMo 523.040). The condemnor may elect to abandon the appropriation of a parcel within ten days after the report is returned.

Deadlines that follow the commissioners' report:

• Exceptions within 30 days. After the report is filed, the clerk notifies the affected owner, and either party may file written exceptions "within thirty days after the service of such notice" (RSMo 523.050). If either party files exceptions, either side has the right to a jury of twelve (RSMo 523.060).
• Interest. If the condemnor has neither paid the award nor elected to abandon within 30 days after the report is filed, interest at six percent per year runs from the filing date on any later verdict, or on the award if there is no verdict (RSMo 523.045).
• Possession. If the owners do not deliver possession within ten days after receiving notice that the award was paid, the court shall issue a writ of possession on the condemnor's request. The court may grant occupants an extension of up to 90 days, and "any displaced owner of a principal place of residence shall have one hundred days from the date of the award" (RSMo 523.055).

Under the constitution, the property may not be disturbed until compensation is paid to the owner or into court (Mo. Const. art. I, § 26).

Inverse condemnation

An owner whose property is taken or damaged for public use without a condemnation case may sue for compensation under article I, section 26, a claim called inverse condemnation. The Missouri Court of Appeals has held that for real property the limitation period "must not be shorter than that required for the entity with the power of eminent domain to obtain a prescriptive easement on the property," which is ten years, and that a claim for damage to personal property must be brought within five years (Shade v. Missouri Highway & Transportation Commission, Mo. App. W.D. 2001). When property is damaged for public use by a corporation, RSMo 523.090 lets "any person interested" have the damages ascertained.

Owner deadlines and traps

How Just Compensation Is Calculated in Missouri

For eminent domain proceedings filed after December 31, 2006, RSMo 523.039 sets three measures and the owner receives "whichever yields the highest compensation":

The definitions come from RSMo 523.001. A "homestead taking" is "any taking of a dwelling owned by the property owner and functioning as the owner's primary place of residence or any taking of the owner's property within three hundred feet of the owner's primary place of residence that prevents the owner from utilizing the property in substantially the same manner as it is currently being utilized." "Heritage value" is the value assigned to real property, "including but not limited to real property owned by a business enterprise with fewer than one hundred employees, that has been owned within the same family for fifty or more years, such value to be fifty percent of fair market value."

A separate rule added in 2022 covers farmland taken for power plants and lines. When an electrical corporation (other than a cooperative) condemns agricultural or horticultural property to construct an electric plant subject to a certificate of convenience and necessity under section 393.170, just compensation is "fair market value multiplied by one hundred fifty percent, as determined by the court." That rule does not apply to applications filed under section 393.170 before August 28, 2022 (RSMo 523.039.2).

After the commissioners report, and again after any jury verdict, the circuit judge decides whether a homestead taking occurred or heritage value is payable and increases the award or verdict accordingly (RSMo 523.061). A 2022 rewrite of that section was ineffective because the Supreme Court of Missouri declared House Bill 1606 invalid in its entirety (Byrd v. State, Mo. banc 2023), so the 2006 text governs. The owner must prove the 50-year family ownership, which may run through children, grandchildren, siblings, nephews or nieces, or through marriage or adoption; if an entity owns the property, family members must hold more than 50% of it (RSMo 523.039).

For state highway takings, the court or jury must consider the benefits to the owner as well as the damage, and the restriction or loss of access to an adjacent highway is an element of damages (RSMo 227.120).

Attorney Fees, Costs and Relocation in Missouri Eminent Domain

Costs. The condemnor pays the cost of the proceeding "up to and including the filing and copying of the report of the commissioners," and the court may make "such order as in its discretion may be deemed just" for costs of later litigation (RSMo 523.070).

Attorney fees. Chapter 523 does not award fees simply because the final award exceeds the condemnor's offer. Its fee provisions cover three narrower situations:

• Dismissal for lack of good-faith negotiations: reimbursement of the owner's actual reasonable attorneys' fees and costs (RSMo 523.256).
• Abandonment: if a condemning authority abandons a condemnation, the owner may recover reasonable attorneys' fees, expert expenses and costs, plus certain damages, but this section applies "only to redevelopment plans or agreements entered into after December 31, 2006" (RSMo 523.259).
• Utility trespass or expanded use: an owner who prevails in an action for trespass or expanded use against a private utility company, public utility, rural electric cooperative, municipally owned utility, pipeline or railroad "may be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses" (RSMo 523.283.4).

Relocation. A public agency that must give relocation assistance as a condition of federal funds must give similar assistance when the same kind of acquisition is paid for solely with state or local funds (RSMo 523.205.1). Where the federal Uniform Relocation Act does not apply, political subdivisions and redevelopment condemnors must adopt a relocation policy meeting the minimum standards in RSMo 523.205, and private utilities, pipelines, railroads and common carriers not covered by the federal act must follow parts of it (RSMo 523.262.2). Under those minimums, displaced residential persons may choose a $1,000 fixed moving payment or actual reasonable relocation costs, and displaced businesses may choose a $3,000 fixed moving payment or actual moving costs, either with up to $10,000 more for reestablishment expenses (RSMo 523.205). Claims must be filed with the displacing agency within six months after displacement (for tenants), or after displacement or final payment for the property, whichever is later (for owners). Relocation plans and policies under RSMo 523.205 must give every displaced person a 90-day notice to vacate.

Buying property back. Chapter 523 contains no general right for a former owner to repurchase condemned land that goes unused. Its narrower return rule is the seven-year rule for involuntary easements in RSMo 523.025, described above.

Utility, Pipeline and Railroad Easements

The 2006 reform also limits the scope of easements taken by utilities and carriers:

• Easements or right-of-way interests acquired after August 28, 2006, by a private utility company, public utility, rural electric cooperative, municipally owned utility, pipeline or railroad, whether by condemnation or by negotiation in lieu of condemnation, "are fixed and determined by the particular use for which the property was acquired" as described in the conveyance or the condemnation petition (RSMo 523.283).
• "Any blanket easement created after December 31, 2006, shall be void as against public policy and wholly unenforceable" (RSMo 523.282).

Recent Changes: The 2022 Eminent Domain Act

House Bill 2005, merged with Senate Bill 820 and effective August 28, 2022, made these changes, among others:

• It added the 150% of fair market value rule for agricultural or horticultural land condemned by a non-cooperative electrical corporation for a certificated electric plant (RSMo 523.039.2).

• It limited condemnation for merchant transmission lines that lack a qualifying Missouri substation or converter station (RSMo 523.010.8).

• It added the seven-year return rule for involuntary easements whose projects lack financial commitments (RSMo 523.025).

• It made good-faith negotiations for agricultural or horticultural land taken for a transmission line of 345 kilovolts or more (other than by an electrical cooperative) depend on a total compensation offer of at least 150% of the condemnor's appraisal (RSMo 523.256).

• It required at least one commissioner to be a farmer with ten years of farming in the county when agricultural or horticultural land is condemned for a certificated electric plant (RSMo 523.040.4).

The electric-plant and transmission-line changes do not apply to applications under section 393.170 filed before August 28, 2022.

Federal Law in Brief

In Kelo v. City of New London (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court held that takings under the city's development plan satisfied the Fifth Amendment's public use requirement, while stressing that "nothing in our opinion precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power." Federal law also conditions federal financial assistance for land acquisition on assurances that the acquiring agency will be guided "to the greatest extent practicable under State law" by the federal land acquisition policies (42 U.S.C. 4655(a)). Federal condemnation and the Uniform Relocation Act are covered in our guide to eminent domain laws by state.

Missouri Easement and Eminent Domain Rules at a Glance

Related Missouri Property Pages

• Easement laws by state
• Eminent domain laws by state
• Missouri squatters' rights and adverse possession
• Missouri property records

This page provides general legal information about Missouri easement and eminent domain law. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific property or condemnation, contact a lawyer licensed in Missouri, or for general guidance on the condemnation process, the Office of Public Counsel's ombudsman for property rights.

Last updated: 2026-10-19.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get a prescriptive easement in Missouri?

Ten years. The Supreme Court of Missouri requires use that is continuous, uninterrupted, visible and adverse for ten years (Whittom v. Alexander-Richardson Partnership, 1993), and the claimant must prove the elements by clear and convincing evidence (Hirsch v. Ebinger, 2011).

Does a prescriptive easement have to be exclusive in Missouri?

No. Whittom explains that an easement claimant claims only the right to make certain use of the land, not the whole title, so exclusive use is not required.

How do you get access to landlocked property in Missouri?

Missouri recognizes a common-law easement by necessity, which requires prior unity of title and later loss of access to a public road (Howell v. Rickard, 2009). An owner with no access or insufficiently wide access may also petition the circuit court for a private road of strict necessity, no wider than 40 feet, and the petitioners pay the damages assessed and generally may not use it until they do (RSMo 228.342, 228.345, 228.358, 228.362).

Who pays to maintain a shared private road in Missouri?

If no prior order or written agreement covers maintenance of a private road used by more than one homeowner, one or more owners may petition the circuit court for a plan of maintenance, and the cost is apportioned among abutting residence owners and easement holders according to use and benefit (RSMo 228.369).

Can an old unused easement be removed in Missouri?

Nonuse alone does not abandon an easement acquired by grant, and abandonment must be proved by clear and convincing evidence (Soderholm v. Nauman, 2013). For easements created after December 31, 2006, and abandoned in whole for more than ten years, the burdened owner may petition to vacate the easement by paying the original consideration, unless the holder shows good-faith plans for future use or that right was waived in writing (RSMo 527.188).

Can Missouri use eminent domain for economic development?

Not solely for economic development (RSMo 523.271). The statute's definition of economic development excludes eliminating blighted, substandard or unsanitary conditions, so blight takings remain possible, but farmland may not be declared blighted for eminent domain (RSMo 523.286).

How is just compensation calculated in Missouri eminent domain?

For proceedings filed after December 31, 2006, the owner receives the highest of fair market value, 125% of fair market value for a homestead taking, or fair market value plus a 50% heritage value for property held in the same family 50 or more years when the taking prevents use in substantially the same manner (RSMo 523.039). A separate 150% rule covers certain agricultural land taken by non-cooperative electrical corporations, for applications filed on or after August 28, 2022.

Does the condemning authority pay attorney fees in Missouri?

Not simply because the award exceeds the offer. Chapter 523 provides fees when a petition is dismissed for lack of good-faith negotiations (523.256), when a condemnation under a redevelopment plan or agreement entered into after December 31, 2006, is abandoned (523.259), and, at the court's discretion, when an owner wins a trespass or expanded-use action against a utility, pipeline or railroad (523.283).

How long do I have to challenge a commissioners' award in Missouri?

Written exceptions must be filed within 30 days after service of the notice that the commissioners' report was filed (RSMo 523.050). Filing exceptions brings the right to a jury of twelve (RSMo 523.060). Exceptions contest only the amount of compensation, and if the award was paid and a later verdict is smaller, the owner must repay the excess with 6% interest (RSMo 523.050, 523.045).